How One Woman Without a Uterus Gave Birth

About 10 percent of women encounter struggles with fertility, from ovulation problems to endometriosis, many of which can be overcome with medication or surgery. Up until recently, not having a uterus was generally considered an unfixable fertility obstacle, but the story of one mom in Sweden who lost her uterus during her battle with cancer says otherwise.

The mother, who wanted to keep her name and her child's private, had her uterus removed about 10 years ago, and she told the AP that carrying a child became "unimaginable" as a result. But then Dr. Mats Brannstrom, a pioneer of the controversial uterus transplant, provided his services, and the woman's mother offered to donate her uterus.

"I was crying and told her I loved her and thank you for doing this," the woman recalled about seeing her mother in the hospital in a wheelchair before the surgery. This transplant, performed two years ago, was one of Brannstrom's first.

The woman had to wait a full year before undergoing IVF, as doctors needed to be sure the procedure was successful and pregnancy would be safe. She underwent three failed IVF sessions, but on the fourth, she became pregnant. The woman delivered her baby boy without complications via C-section nine months ago.

Brannstrom said he feels this case is special because, "It's one uterus bridging three generations of a family." Mom says she hopes this will create a special bond between her son and her mother, even though the conception story might seem unusual to people outside their family: "My thought is that [my son] will always know how wanted he was," she said. "The real unique thing is what me and my mom went through."

Uterus transplants are actually relatively low-risk surgeries, NPR reports, but they are time-consuming and ethically controversial. They can take 10 to 13 hours to perform because the uterus needs to be intricately connected to the recipient's arteries and veins, and even then, pregnancy isn't guaranteed. But Dr. Brannstrom has changed the conversation around uterus transplants after assisting in the birth of four children since October 2014 with a fifth on the way, Fox reports.

There are certainly impediments to normalizing womb transplants, including their tremendous cost (about $300,000 in the U.S.), but this new mom is optimistic it will become an accepted fertility solution one day. "Hopefully when [my son] grows up, uterus transplantation [will be] an acknowledged treatment for women like me," she says. "He will know that he was part of making that possible."